Summer Reading: What’s In Pat Paolino Cruz’s Beach Bag

When publishing and networking uber-woman Pat Paolino Cruz slows down (if she ever does), she's got a quartet of fun, illuminating books ready to go for some summer reading. What's in her beach bag?

The Shadow Effect by Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford, and Marianne Williamson. Two New York Times bestselling authors and internationally acclaimed teachers have joined together to share their knowledge on one of the most crucial obstacles to happiness we face - the shadow. These three luminaries, each with a signature approach, bring to light the parts of ourselves we deny but that still direct our life. For it is only when we embrace our shadow that we discover the gifts of our authentic nature.

Notes Left Behind by Brooke and Keith Desserich. The true story of a six-year-old girl named Elena and her battle against brain cancer. In her last days she showed a community how to love and how to live. Written through the eyes of her parents as a remembrance for Elena’s younger sister, her daily story tells

one of humility and inspiration as she lives each day, one at a time. In her short time she painted a masterpiece that would hang in an art museum, she accomplished a truly spectacular series of wishes that she alone created, and she inspired a cause that remains today to help children everywhere in their fight against brain cancer.

from generation to generation, that shape our physical, mental, and spiritual well being. The book introduces an entirely new map of female development, built around the powerful metaphor of life as a house with many rooms. You start in the foundation, moving from one room to another every seven years or so. Above all, this book will help improve your adult relationship with your mother, daughters and sons as well.

telescope away; the North Star mentioned here is a human body, not a heavenly one. And like Polaris, which has guided sailors for centuries, the human body’s gut feelings and emotions can help guide a wayward soul back to his or her “essential self.” In this absorbing combination of detailed self-awareness exercises and true stories from her own counseling experience (equal parts sobering and hysterically entertaining), Harvard-trained sociologist Martha Beck invites readers to explore their heart’s desires and the vast social webs that keep such desires in check. The goal is not to forsake the “social self” and indulge every emotional impulse of the “essential self.” Rather, Beck gives readers the tools and the encouragement to achieve maximum happiness by harmonizing these typically divergent voices.

Find Pat's favorites at your local bookstore, or online, and come back every Monday for more summer reading suggestions.